Oh goddddddd...

[byslantedlight]

I think I must have done something terrible to someone's house in a previous life, because I seem destined not to have a nice comfortable home of my own... Granted, this one is too small for me, and cold and expensive to heat (cos it has no efficient heaters, just stand-alone electric ones) and there are rats (or summat!) in the roof, but... it was basically sound and I was getting on with it and quite glad not to have to pack up and move again within a year. Plus lovely walk down the long garden, and view over to the hills...

So I thought...

So today I decided to be very good and take my Christmas decorations down early - I usually wait until after twelfth night and take them down on the 6th January, but today being Sunday and all, and tomorrow a work day - I decided to be good. I undressed the tree and got everything put away, and the tree into the car for the tree-recycling place, and hoovered up all the needles (well, lots of them - it's never all, is it...) and paused for lunch. Then I went to move the shelves back into where the tree'd been, from their emergency-space in the bedroom, and had a quick dust... and thought huh, that looks like damp behind the bed... So I moved the bed, and sure enough - damp along the wall. Gaaah! Not lots and not too nasty, but needing dealt with, so I trotted over to Landlord who brought his special mould cleaning stuff and even cleaned it for me, bless him. And okay, this has happened before on the same wall.

And as I did it, I thought well I hope it's not gone further along, but I know I checked behind the bookcases not long ago and they were fine... So I shone a torch behind them, just to be on the safe side - and there's big spodges of damp. Waaaah! Landlord offers to clean it for me tomorrow, but I'd rather do it tonight, so I just ask him to leave me the stuff. So I move all the books off the first bookcase (about six long shelves full), and pile them precariously around the bed, and clean the wall. And the back of the bookcase, which is, of course, also somewhat fluffy with damp mould. And then I shine my light behind the next bookcase, expecting to see perhaps a little bit more of the same, and sure enough there are patches. So I sigh (okay, I swear long and loudly), and start removing books and teetering them up between doorways, and then I move the bookcase out properly, and...

Gaaaaaaah! It would be less scary if it hadn't infiltrated that electricity socket, but... *sighs more* So I moved my books even further away, and here now is my Mount To-Be-Rescued, where my Christmas tree was just this morning...

And I moved the Paper Circuit Library folders that I'd brought inside cos they'd be drier/safer inside than down in the Slaughterhouse, where the ivy is winning, and ow-my-back, and then I realised I didn't really want to sleep in the room with the nasty chemical mould-remover smell, or the Big Bad Damp patches (waiting so the electrician can see what's going on, hopefully tomorrow), so here's my new bedroom...

I'm not convinced that my sofa bed is terribly comfortable, though to be fair I always meant to try it before subjecting guests to it...
Although, with interesting timing, I'm sort-of house-sitting for my friend who's off on another cruise with her lecturing partner (forensics, well-cool, I've been a test-audience for him recently *g*) for the next three weeks, and so if Landlord does find that he needs to take off the entire bedroom wall and re-do it then if he does it in the next three weeks, I at least have somewhere else I can sleep... *sigh*

But did you notice that bit of the sentence? He might have to have the entire back wall of my house taken off and sorted out! And electricity turned off, and general uninhabitable-ness... *sigh* I'd almost be better off putting everything back in storage and moving onto the next thing now - but it's complicated by food-saving-in-process and lovely-landlords, and... you know. Stuff. But here I am again, having to move my stuff out of the bedroom and living in chaos rather than in a real grown-up house.

See what I mean? I've only been here a year! Clearly Not. Meant. To. Have. A Home. Of. My. Own...

And of course what I'd meant to do after taking the tree to the recycling-mulch place, was catch up on all my replies, and ci5hq, and... *sighs* And this is all after a hospital check-up appointment last Thursday (basically fine) and tax due at the end of the month... nothing like starting the new year with a whoo-hoo...

And I still have to be grateful that my house is not (yet) on fire, or surrounded by smoke. My nearest are on the outskirts of Melbourne, and had a slight scare the other day (hmmn, and actually the same area's apparently burning again now, 11 vehicles attending...) but are okay, but my new second-cousin and his new wee family are far too close to some of the north Gippsland fires for my liking... Just erk. Looking at the Cfa/Vic emergency site (and the Rfs site for NSW mates) makes me realise I can live with damp and mould...

And yet again I'm late with replies and catching-up and all, but hopefully tomorrow...

Comments

[keli]

Oh goodness, that is terrible with the mold and you having to clean it. :( We had a mold issue around our windows and I had to scrub with the mold killer. Not fun. I hope it all clears up for you! I am starting to hear so much about the fires. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you and hope that the fires get under control soon. Hugs

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, my landlord did clean the first patch, and offered to clean the second patch (and I'm hoping he might clean the third lot - which I can see in the daylight has spread up the adjacent wall, too... *headdesk*) - but he's in his 80s and finds it hard to kneel, and I'm not sure whether he sees all the spots that I might see, so...

Yeah, the fires are pretty bad. I remember Ash Wednesday (as it was called) way back in the 1980s when I was a kid, and it was the strangest, scariest thing - and we were quite a way from the fires then. I just can't imagine how it must feel to live in East Gippsland right now, or any of the other badly affected areas... Luckily my closest family is basically in the city, so should be pretty safe - though I still compulsively check the VicEmergency site every day...

Thank you!

[keli]

Oh I didn't realize he was 80. I can definitely see why you would want to take on the cleaning yourself. ;-)

I am glad your family is safe! I really hope the fires get under control soon. So tragic. My daughter grew up watching Steve Irwin, so she follows Bindi and she told me that the Australian Zoo has already treated over 90,000 animals. That is absolutely mind boggling to me. I am heart broken for the devastation this is causing your wildlife. So sad. :( Hugs.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's devastating wildlife, human beings... the whole gamut. It's hard to sit and watch from the other side of the world - I keep thinking I should fly over and help out somehow, but it doesn't quite work like that...

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

You shouldn't have to live with mold! Especially, since it seems to be a known problem.
A rent reduction should be the least!

We are renting out my mother-in-laws house in California for her, and had to let the tenant live rent free, while the heat was fixed. Even though we bought him space heaters for the interim, too. Apparently space heaters don't count.

I hope 2020 brings you the home you are looking for!
And all the best wishes to Australia! It's so awful!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I agree - definitely no mould! *g*

All I have are little space heaters - I wish this place had central heating, I reckon that would help the problem no end... No laws here about living rent free while there are problems, as far as I know... If it was really bad I'd definitely push that though.

Someone came to look today - but it wasn't the electrician or a damp expert of any kind, it was Landlord's mate who does various useful jobs. I've met him before, and he's a nice guy, and worked on this house with Landlord, I'm just not sure how far I can rely on his advice (and he was the first to say that he was no expert, it's not like he's trying to con anyone!). He reckoned it looked like the damp was on the wall rather than in it, and that the room just needed better ventilation and heating. Which if I had either of those things, I'd give it! I open the window every day for an hour or so (and longer when it's not cold), and the door's always open all day, but there just isn't any other outside ventilation. I've not put a heater on there, admittedly, cos electric space heaters are so expensive, and I've only been heating the rooms I'm in (and using hot water bottles in bed *g*) If it turns out that my electricity bill goes way up, I'll talk to landlord about a rent reduction to make it up, cos I should be able to live mould-free in a bedroom, just from correct structural/ventilation build! Sorry - waffling on, now!

Thanks for the best wishes - and right back to you, because I think you guys deserve a much nicer 2020!

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Thanks! We could sure use a more cheerful year!

With the mold, it could be due to not heating in that room, and having too much stuff along the walls.
We had a problem like that in our bedroom, and started running a dehumidifier in there. It also warms things up.
And we had to move out most of our shelves, as they just didn't let the air circulate properly behind them.
The books smelled a little musty, too!
I hope yours are ok and that it works out with the little heater, without getting too expensive!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Trouble is, I don't have anywhere to move my bookcases to... I do keep them off the walls - in fact it's not possible for them to be right up against the walls, because either the wall or floor slopes enough that there's an inch or so gap by the time you get to the top! Even at the bottom the skirting board stops them being flat up against the wall. I open the window for at least an hour every day, to try and help air circulate, but the way the house is designed (windows on one side, door through to bedroom/kitchen on the other) means that you can't really get a through draft, which would help the air to move. There's perhaps something of a through draft (though barely) if I open the front door too, but only because of the size of gap that makes! But it opens onto the street, so I don't really want to do that all the time. And not in winter, either!

Trouble with a dehumidifier is that it uses even more electricity, and I'm already paying an awfully high bill - and the house isn't even warm as a result! Plus the noise would drive me batty... I'm going to try and find some dehumidifying plants - apparently things like English ivy, cacti and spider plants are good at sucking moisture out of the air to use themselves. Not that there's an awful lot of room to put them!

I've had my bookcases in every house I've lived in though, and I know other people have them too (!) - I should be able to have stuff along the walls without them becoming covered in mould, if there was proper ventilation and heating in the room. I don't think there'd be a problem if there was better air flow in the house, or a better heating system... I just can't afford to be spending £200 a month (cUS$260) on electricity because the landlord didn't want to pay out for a heating system... *sighs*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

It does sound like looking for another place might be the best option, since your landlord is not planning on (or can't afford to) making any changes or include the electric usage into the rent.
Is there anything suitable available in your village, or is it as bad as here, with rent prices?

We had no choice but to move out any shelves that were on the two outer walls in our bedroom. It's okay along the one "inside" wall. The other "inside" wall is taken up by the inbuilt closet.
We had trouble finding new spaces for the book shelves and our living room is now very cluttered! And the hallway, too!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wish I had a hallway! I miss having a hallway! I lined it with shelves... *g*

It's hard to say about the village. Things come up occasionally, but I'm fussy about not wanting to use estate agents who're trying to take advantage of renters (via excessive fees) rather than just do their job, which narrows it down a bit too! But there's something now and then. If I can hold out for the rest of winter... which granted is at least another three months!

I think Landlord probably could fford to put in decent heating/sort out the wall (and to be fair, he said he'd look into damp courses if the problem came back - it's not like he's a horrid man or anything, just... old, and hoping and not to have to spend more than he can help. (Which also explains the bathroom wallpaper, and, I suspect, the lack of a freezer...!)

In fact, it's because they're nice people and because I like the garden and outdoor space that finding somewhere new in the village would be difficult too... I dunno. We'll see, I guess. There's also a bit of me that wonders whether I should move back to Australia for a bit, while my mum still remembers who I am... and the odds are fairly high that if I do have to move out of here again, that I'll take the opportunity to go to Australia again for a few months or so... Might depend what else happens here I guess, and how far Johnson decides to sell out to Trump... scary times...

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Oh, going back to Australia!
Would you be able to live with family there, or rent something?
How is the leadership in Australia? I've heard grumbles about Morrison, too, but have to admit to not
being well informed.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know if I really would, it still feels like the wrong side of the world to me, but... I wouldn't live with family, though I'd probably live near to them (which would also be weird, cos they're on the edge of the city rather than anywhere we grew up)

I've never been convinced about Morrison, though to be fair I've not followed him closely. He's leader of the Liberal Party though (read Tories/Republicans-type politics) and I don't like his stance on immigration or asylum seekers one bit. He opposed same-sex marriage. So... he's probably not the leader I'd like to see there...

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Oh yuck, you poor love. Though it sounds like your landlord is on the case and doing his best. But still, yuck. I hope it all gets sorted quickly for you.

Fingers crossed for your family in Australia - it's beyond awful. This year really isn't starting too well, is it?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well he's sort of doing his best, but I must admit I'm not 100% convinced by it... In the end it was neither an electrician nor a damp-expert who came, but his mate wot helped him do the place up... who thought that the problem's just lack of ventilation and heating (I agree, the room has neither ventilation (though I open the window every day) or heating (nope, none of that...) and recommended using a fan heater in there to circulate the air more. Landlord immediately nipped out and bought me a little fan heater, bless him, so we'll see what that does to my already ridiculous heating bill (for the privilige of often still being cold... *sighs*)

I thought 2020 probably had to be better than 2019 (although I remember thinking that about several years previously, come to think of it), but what with fires and mould and hypocritical idiots who commit terrorism in the name of fighting terrorism, it's not looking too bright so far... But I refuse to despair yet! I refuse! Back off, you buggers!! *g*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

What a rotten start to the year and so much extra work for you. Your landlord sounds a decent person, though, so hopefully he'll deal with it asap.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

He's a nice guy, but not terribly pro-active. Although he did remember yet again that he was going to actually get the fire chaps to come and fit working smoke detectors for me... it's only been just over a year... *g*

I scrubbed and scrubbed after work tonight, and landlord went and got me a little fan heater for the room, cos his mate-in-doing-up-houses said that was better than the radiating type of heaters, so we'll see... Though it really needs re-painting, and they suggested that foil-stuff for the backs of my bookcases (which doesn't inspire me with confidence that the problem's sorted!) I guess we'll see... and hopefully I'll only have to sleep for one more night in the living room! I'll give the sofa bed a miss this time though - we'll try cushions on the floor, tucked up under the spare duvets!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Cripes, but you seem to have bad luck with housing. How soon will you know if he's going to have to have the entire back wall of the house replaced? And does he have any idea as to how long that will take? Granted it was all inside, but when we had a sump pump installed downstairs, the guys doing the work taped thick plastic between where they were working and the rest of the area (because of the dust.) Maybe something like that could be doable, a temporary wall of sorts. As long as it would only takes a few days, and, really, it shouldn't take any longer than that, that might work.

Hope your family are all doing well and stay out of danger's way.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I really don't seem to be cut out for staying in one place...

It doesn't look like the wall replacement is likely now. Landlord's mate, who helped him do the place up, reckons it was probably just from poor ventilation and lack of heating. Trouble is - the room has poor ventilation (I open the window every day, but I can't keep it open in the dead of winter when it's wet and cold, and that's all the ventilation there is) and it has no heating (I've not used the space heaters in there unless it was only a couple of degrees outside, cos they're so expensive to run). He's bought me a little fan heater, cos mate said that was better than the radiator ones that I've got, but... gaaah! So we'll see I guess... I've cleaned it off, and had the window open and the heater on, and I'll see how it looks in daylight tomorrow...

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, ugh! And Gah! Yes, I'd rather be dealing with damp and mold on one (rented!) wall than catastrophic fires, or even than damp and mold on my own owned house. *g*. But it's still a pain and damp and mold are health dangers as well as everything else. It does sound to me that if it has spread that far they would be better off taking the wall and really finding and dealing with the source.

Good luck with it all!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Definitely ugh and gaah! The trouble with dealing with it in a rented house is that the dealing-with is only as good as the landlord - and his mate has said it's all on the outside of the wall (not in the wall, if you know what I mean) and probably just due to poor ventilation and lack of heating. Trouble is, that room has poor ventilation and a lack of heating, so I'm not really sure how things are going to improve once it's all cleaned off and dried out - I reckon it'll just come back again... But I guess we'll see...

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Sympathy and best wishes - I do hope your housing luck improves!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I just really thought that I'd have a place of my own by now - if not my own house, then at least somewhere decent that was rented, but I seem to be ending up with worse places, not better... Maybe I should have stayed across the stable-yard from the horses, with Little Tree!!

[stellar_raven]

Oh no! That's not a fun way to start the year. :( *hugs* I'm so sorry about all the yucky mold, and I hope it can be taken care of without having to take your house apart. :(

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I have to say, it really isn't a fun way to start the year! Landlord's not being quite as effectual as his sympathy originally suggested he was going to be either, so... blargh!

And thank you for listening to my whinging... :s

[stellar_raven]

*hugs* I am so sorry!

Whinge any time you need to, and please keep us updated on the mold situation, as well as your family in Australia.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you!

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Well shit. I very much take your point about not being on fire, but even so - I hope your lot in the southern half of the globe stay safe, and I also hope your landlord gets this sorted asap :-\ (and I'm sure you would have mentioned it, so I hope I'm safe in saying thank goodness the wet didn't get into your books and papers). Ah, brings back fond memories (not) of the tiny house low down near the river I lived in when I was at uni, and the Ancient-Mariner-style denizens thereof :-s ... Here's to landlord leaping rapidly into action! And to people and their stuff staying dry where there is damp - and also un-singed, over there where there is governmental dereliction and too much dry :-\

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, he's not currently sorting anything in the end... :( Turned out that it was his mate who he called around, who could say nothing more useful than "needs more ventilation and heating", and I could have told him that! In fact I've mentioned it to landlord before, but of course he can't sort that except by rebuilding... So I had to clean it all off myself with the nasty chemical stuff landlord had given me, sleep in the lounge again cos that stuff smells nasty too, and then this morning I saw I'd missed bits and had to do it all over again... and then realised that back at the other end of the wall where it all started, there were more little patches again too, so I had to go back to that end - all when I should have been working!

All of this while a mate's said I could use her place as an office for three weeks while they're away, my plan being it might be easier to get work done if I'm not actually at home surrounded by all the other stuff that needs doing - and this is good today, cos I don't want to be in the house why the nasty-chemical stuff is still smelling. Except that when I went to check that Landlord was home, so I could leave the windows open and heaters on - they weren't! And I can't leave everything open if the place is all empty, and I can't work there, cos smell, and then I found out that my CI5hq poll didn't work after all, and... and... and... *sniffs and sulks a bit*...

And here I am at mate's house so I can work, and have been distracted by this anyway... *headdesk*

Actually some of my books did have mould on them, but it wasn't toooo bad. But - I don't want my stuff being damaged! Waaaaaah! And the Paper Circuit Library! I'd just moved it inside where I thought it would be safest! Just... wtf, world...?! /sulk. Sorry... *g*

[akin16sk.livejournal.com]

Good luck, i hope that it sorts out better than you expect. You really do seem to have bad luck with housing. I think that you have lived in a year in more houses than I did in my whole life. I admire your tenacity and practicality. Hopefully this will turn out to be THE house just yet :)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I really do! Maybe I was supposed to be nomadic!

I have a feeling I'm going to have to move again before next winter - I'll see if the mould problem comes back, and how well I can deal with the high electricity costs here, but I suspect there are better places to live. I like that it's on the edge of the village though, with distant views... although I suppose I can only see them if I go out into the garden anyway, which is virtually the same as seeing distant views when you're out walking...

But thanks - we'll see what happens! *g* It's nice to see you again too - I'm not even sure where you are in the world these days?! Hope everything's going well for you!

[akin16sk.livejournal.com]

Ah, I wasn't much around these days, as first I was on looong holidays with my mum, then travelled for some competitions and when I finally finally wanted to sit down for a bit, I caught a bad bronchitis and had almost a month fevers. Basically, the first day I felt better, i ran into shops to do some Christmas shopping, ebcause it was already 23rd :))

Over the Christmas I worked the whole time, so it wasn't the most relaxing time ever. I am just now catching up with all the happening on CI5HQ and Pros advent....sigh.... well, what can I say, the usual with me, i am afraid :)))

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Long holidays and travelling sounds good! Bronchitis not so much... What kind of competitions? And are you back home now then (where lj says you are? *g*)

Hope the catching up is fun anyway, and that the world is being generally decent to you!

[akin16sk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the long holidays were in my beloved Japan again, so it was awesome. Even got to buy a lot of stuff for my favorite anime couple under the lame excuse of wanting to exercise my kanji, so it was pretty good.

As for the competitions, I am in a club of Chinese wushu, meaning I do taiji and our kids do kungfu, so when I get the opportunity, I compete (not very successfully, I might add) and when needed, I do judge (with much bigger success). But mostly, it is just a good opportunity to travel around with friends and have some fun.

Yeah, I cannot complain, my life is quite good. I quite my job the last year and started working only freelance and it was quite liberating. So at the moment, I am still riding my high from that change and I am trying not to complain too much *g*

And yes, I am home, exactly as my LJ says...I even had to check, cos I wasn't sure what is actually written there :))

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

Oh that's just nasty, I hope you get it sorted. Can't be healthy living in a mouldy environment, not to mention the damage to your books. And I can't imagine NOT having central heating in the UK and having to rely on portable heaters. That just sounds wrong!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really is... nasty and wrong, both! It was the thing I was worried about when I moved in, actually, those heaters as the heating system, and keeping the place warm without spending a fortune... and of course being able to fit my book cases into the place. I just managed it, there's really nowhere else for them to go, so they'll have to go back on the wall, and hope that I can find some way of stopping the mould from recurring. I can't be moving those bookcases to clean every few weeks!

[freetraveller15.livejournal.com]

Oh noes!
I can't think of a worse housing situation than having to live in a damp and difficult-to-heat up properly flat! Is it really an impossible option for your landlord to install central heating for you?
In my own experience, until the second to the last flat I lived in London (a decently-sized studio flat in Putney, within a block from the early 1960's) I never really lived in a properly heated and dry rented property in the UK.
I'm so aghast at what's been happening in Australia for weeks now (as I was aghast at the fires in the Amazon forest till recently and the Brazilian president claiming that the Amazon - which (used to) produce 20% of the oxygen of our planet - belonged to Brazil and not to the entire planet), and Australia's prime minister's feeble and frankly ridiculous response to it. I hope your relatives and friends are safe.
What a world we are living in. Not enough to live in an environmental emergency after the other, but also with political leaders who don't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation, at global level, and are instead preoccupied with their narrow-minded, irresponsible, populist agendas?